Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works Crispin Frederick says he could not say why the contract between the Grenada government and Peek Traffic from Holland as it relates to the erection of traffic lights on the island cannot be located.

He made the comment while appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for over two hours last Friday. The Permanent Secretary was answering questions posed to him by Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas, Parliamentarians Glynis Roberts, Nazim Burke and Kenrick Fullerton who are executive members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The members of the PAC wanted to know also whether or not records relating to the Coastal Defence and Road Rehabilitation Project for the western part of the island are available for scrutiny by the body. Frederick told the committee he was unable to locate both contracts for his appearance before them but that does not mean to say they do not exist.

He said there are a lot of documents in the Ministry of Works for a number of projects but it is just a matter of time for him to be able to sought through them. The Civil Servant suggested to the Committee that he be given one calendar month in order for him to locate the information they had requested.

The PAC is presently dealing with the Audit Report of 1999 on the Ministry of Works which was presented to them by Director of Audit Anslem Joseph. He told a meeting of the Committee over two weeks ago that he was presented with a partial copy of the contract as it relates to the agreement between Peek and government.

The Director of Audit stated that despite several requests made by him to the Permanent Secretary for the complete document and other details relating to the project they were not provided. Frederick gave the meeting his commitment that he will search for the relevant documents with the hope of getting them to present before the Committee when he reappear in the future.

The Civil Servant disclosed that steps are being taken to implement measures to ensure that when ever there is a major project, the country does get value for money. He said that a monitoring Board will be established within the Ministry of Works that will ensure projects will receive the full attention before, during and after construction.

The Board is to be chaired by Frederick, and includes Kenneth Moore and Brenda Griffith.